Profile

Jon Shaw
University Librarian
Administration
Contact Info
611 Central Library
Biographical Info
Jon Shaw is the university librarian of the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries at Vanderbilt University. As University Librarian at Vanderbilt, Shaw serves as the leader for the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries, comprised of nine campus libraries, including the university's Special Collections and University Archives, the Digital Commons, and the Vanderbilt Television News Archive. Focused on the libraries' ambitious growth and renewal, Shaw builds collaborative relationships with community and university stakeholders and provides strategic vision for a forward-looking library system that is engaged and aligned with the university's endeavors.
Prior to coming to Vanderbilt in July 2022, he was Associate Vice Provost and Deputy University Librarian for the University of Pennsylvania Libraries. There, he served as the lead administrator for operations, chief strategist and senior advisor to the H. Carlton Rogers III Vice Provost of the Penn Libraries. Over the course of his Penn Libraries career, Jon has chaired various enterprise-wide initiatives, from capital projects to technology solutions. He has guided several strategic plans and has spearheaded civic engagement partnerships, including the formative collaboration with the Athenaeum of Philadelphia and the model partnership that led to the support and building of Penn Libraries' community outreach program. He has also produced world-class exhibits, including The Civil War: An Ephemeral Lens of the Life and Times and Prehistoric Wessex and; led the collaborative digital humanities teaching and research initiative between Penn, Swarthmore, Haverford and Bryn Mawr colleges on the Penn Libraries' collection of British and American Fiction Collection, 1660-1830.